Invalid bed



J. E. STEINER Dec. 19, 1961 INVALID BED Filed April 25, 1959 INVENTOR.

BY Jessa E. STEINER vvawb United Sntes Patent 3,013,281 INVALID BEDJesse E. Steiner, Pandora Box 404, 705 S. Jefferson St., Pandora, OhioFiled Apr. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 808,338 1 Claim. (Cl. 562) This inventionrelates to an improved invalid bed and more particularly to such a bedhaving a tiltable mattress support comprising three longitudinal planarsections, the outer two of which extend upwardly from the center one andat an angle thereto.

Tiltable invalid beds are well known in the art and have been made withboth straight and arcuate mattress supports. Beds with straight mattresssupports generally have been used to enable easy transfer of a patientfrom the bed to another one, or to turn the patient over. Beds witharcuate mattress supports have been used to enable easier transfer of apatient to another bed, to turn the patient over, or to provide thepatient with a change in position on a different portion of the bed.However, when beds with arcuate mattress supports are used for thelatter purpose, such beds are relatively unsatisfactory because thepatient is constantly lying on a curved portion of the bed and, hence,is uncomfortable.

The present invention relates to an improved invalid bed having amattress support of three planar sections, the outer two of which extendat an angle upwardly from the center one. A patient can lie on any ofthe three sections and be as comfortable as in a conventional bed. Thepatient can be transferred to another bed, or be turned or shifted toanother part of the bed and to another part of his body as easily aswith those beds having curved mattress supports as heretofore proposed.The danger of bed sores is practically eliminated with the new bedbecause the patient can be shifted from one planar mattress supportingsection to another any number of times a day, so that bodily contactwith the bed will be changed a sutficient amount to prevent such sores.

it is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide animproved invalid bed on which a patient can lie equally comfortably onany of three planar mattress supporting sections.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved invalid bed onwhich a patient can be shifted easily yet be as comfortable as on aconventional bed.

Other objects of the invention will be suggested from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference beingmade to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall view in perspective of an invalid bed according tothe invention, with a mattress thereon; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 with the mattressshown in FIG. I removed.

An invalid bed according to the invention is indicated by the numeral itand includes a mattress support 12 and a base 14. A mattress 16 rests onthe mattress support 12 which includes two outer planar sections 18 and20, which extend upwardly from a substantially planar, central section22 and at an angle of about 20-35 thereto. The outer sections 18 and 20can be formed by sheets 24 of wood or metal with the central section 22includes two outer slats 26 and 28, tilted upwardly and outwardly, andtwo center slats 3t) and 32, also tilted up- Patented Dec. 19, 1961wardly and outwardly. The upper edges of all four slats protrudeslightly from the general plane of the central section 22 to resistmovement of the mattress. Thus, the upper edges of the slats 26 and 30resist movement of the mattress toward the right and upper edges of theslats 28 and 32 resist movement toward the left. The outer edges of thesections 18 and 20 are provided with side boards 33 and 34 also to aidin maintaining the mattress 1-6 in position.

The sheets 24 and slats 26, 28, 30 and 32 are held in position by aplurality of cross braces 35 spaced at substantially equal distancesalong the length of the bed 10. The cross braces 35 are tiltable about ashaft 36 to which the braces are attached by means of clamps 37 whichare keyed to the shaft 36 and are suitably aifixed to the braces 35. Theshaft 36 is rotatably mounted in bearing blocks 38 which are mounted onend cross members 40 and 42 and an intermediate cross member 44 of thebase 14. The cross members are connected to longitudinal members 46 and48 which are supported by legs 50.

The mattress support 12 is tilted by rotation of the shaft 36 to which aworm wheel 52 is aifixed. The worm wheel 52 is driven by a worm 54 on aWorm shaft 56 which extends outwardly beyond the members 46 and 48 onboth sides of the bed and is connected to cranks 58 and 60.

When either of the cranks 58 or 60 is turned, the worm 54 and the wormwheel 52 rotate the shaft 36 which tilts the support 12 through theclamps 37 and the cross braces 35. The support 12 can be tilted eitherway until either of the outer planar sections 18 and 20 is substantiallyhorizontal with stops 62 contacting the longitudinal members 46 and 48.

It will be seen that when any of the sections 18, 20 and 22 ishorizontal, the corresponding portion of the mattress 16 will also behorizontal and a patient thereon will be as comfortable as if on aconventional bed. However, the patient can be shifted from one portionof the mattress to another, lying on his side on the side sections andon his back on the center section, and the contact of his body with themattress can also be easily changed simply by turning the crank 58 or 60to rotate one of the other planar sections .18, 20 and 22 to ahorizontal position.

Many modifications will be apparent from the above detailed descriptionof a preferred embodiment of the invention, and such modifications canbe incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention, ifwithin the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In an invalid bed, a base, a mattress support comprising threelongitudinally-extending, parallel sections, means for rigidlyconnecting said sections with the outer two extending upwardly from thecenter section at equal angles thereto of about 20-35 degrees, tiltedslats extending longitudinally only on said center section for resistingmovement of said mattress on said support, the edges of said slatstoward the center of said center section being tilted downwardly and theedges of said slats away from the center of said center section beingtilted upwardly, whereby the upwardly extending edges are adapted toengage the mattress and prevent it from sliding in either lateraldirection when said support is tilted, means for rotating'said supportabout an axis parallel to the longitudinal extent of and below saidcenter section, said axis being symmetrical with respect to saidsupport, and means for limiting the rotation of said support in eachdirection to limit the movement of the outer sections to substantiallyhorizontal positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 4Pilates Sept. 13, 1932 Comper et a1. May 26, 1942 Blackman Sept. 12,1950 Lang Mar. 11, 1952 Keyes Oct. 14, 1952 Wetzler Oct. 1, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS Great Britain 1879 Australia Oct. 8, 1957

